wise words -Personal Locator Beacon

[jamie langstone]

An older friend over mine has a Personal Locator Beacon and i started talking to him about it and he said the reason
why he has it is that if he falls over board he would be found. He also said that if he did not make it his body would be found which would give closure to the family and that he would not be classed as missing at sea.
So after that it made me think i should have one as i reqularly go out to see on my own and i too would want my family to have closure if the worst was to happen.


Just something to think about.

 

[sarabande]

Sadly there's a fairly standard time before bodies which sink return to the surface. IIRC it's about 4 days, by which time the beacon is likely to be non-functional.

 

[Leighb]

I expect that the OP was thinking that he would be wearing a LJ if he was in a situation where he might fall in??

 

[IF-S]

+1 ^

 

[petem]

I think you'd be mad to go to sea on your own without a PLB. It would be a no brainer for me, along with an automatic life jacket.

 

[jon and michie]

It really is a good idea whether you're on your own or not - when I go to work we have them as standard fitted to our lifejackets in case the worst happens.
Jon

 

[ari]

We always have lifejackets in the cockpit with the clear advice that anyone who would rather wear one is extremely welcome - they're not ornaments.

Exceptions are at night when everyone wears one regardless and when I'm on my own in which case I wear one with a PLB clipped to it.

Heard a story once of a yachtsman sailing along the coast single handed. Went forward to sort something out and the wind fluked enough to cause a gybe. The boom basically pushed him off the deck into the water where he was forced to watch his boat sail away on autopilot. He had a lifejacket and PLB and was pulled out 1/2 hour later very cold but alive.

 

[LittleSister]

I thought I'd read that the antenna of a PLB has to be extended and held above the water to get a signal out. Is that correct, and if so how does such device help with the suggested finding the body/closure etc.?

 

[jon and michie]

On the ones I use to get to work the antenna is fixed to the lifejacket so would be out of the water near your head
Jon

 

[benchmark]

I don't have a personal locator beacon ...yet ..I may get one in the future but I do currently have the following :

1. Automatic life jacket.
2. Cordless lanyard bracelet that shuts off the engine if it goes under water or if I press its button. (FEll marine)
3. VHF radio with distress DSC button that sends SOS signal with gps coordinates to the coastguard if activated.
4. Handheld ,floating ,waterproof handheld vhf clipped to my life jacket.
5. AIS broadcasting in real time so boat can be tracked.
6. water proof remote control for my autopilot clipped on life jacket.
7. Pack of flares.

 

[longjohnsilver]

I think you'd be mad to go to sea on your own without a PLB. It would be a no brainer for me, along with an automatic life jacket.

I must be mad then.

But I have fallen over the side of various boats over the years, probably about 2,000 times, and I'm still here to tell the tale! And I am very careful.

 

[sorabain]

I must be mad then.

But I have fallen over the side of various boats over the years, probably about 2,000 times, and I'm still here to tell the tale! And I am very careful.

are you a professional diver? That sounds like at least once every weekend!

 

[prv]

I expect that the OP was thinking that he would be wearing a LJ if he was in a situation where he might fall in??

Exactly - and if he wasn't wearing it, then probably he wouldn't have the PLB either. I think most people with PLBs wear them attached to the lifejacket rather than in or on their normal clothing.

I thought I'd read that the antenna of a PLB has to be extended and held above the water to get a signal out. Is that correct, and if so how does such device help with the suggested finding the body/closure etc.?

Presumably he's expecting to be alive and conscious for a while, during which time he activates the beacon. Hopefully he's then rescued, but if not reached in time then at least they know where the body is. Either because the beacon is perched on top of his lifejacket and still chirping away, or at worst because they had a series of accurate times and positions to put into the Coastguard drift-predicting software.

On the ones I use to get to work the antenna is fixed to the lifejacket so would be out of the water near your head

I'm guessing those are 121.5MHz locators rather than 406MHz satellite PLBs? As far as I know it's not permitted to have auto-activating 406MHz PLBs, to reduce false alarms, and I've also not seen any models with permanently-deployed antennas. The 121.5 units will guide in rescuers who are already looking for you, but they won't trigger the initial alert.

Pete

 

[longjohnsilver]

are you a professional diver? That sounds like at least once every weekend!

No, but a keen sportsdiver who used to dive 3 or 4 times a week, 2 dives a day for many years. Now been diving for 35 years but not doing so much these days unfortunately.